Oswaldo Guzman
Oswaldo Guzman was a drug smuggler-turned bookmaker operating in the Miami area. He first came to the attention of the Organized Crime Bureau in 1984, leading James "Sonny" Crockett to infiltrate Guzman's organization. He was close to securing a conviction when a 19 year old informant Crockett was using was exposed and killed in a particularly violent manner. The case was ruined, but around the same time Guzman suddenly washed his hands the drug dealing business and took his money into bookmaking, particularly focussing on boxing. Guzman quickly began fixing the matches he was providing gambling services for, signing fighters and building them up to stack the odds, then hiring a newcomer to beat them in a surprise victory, earning himself tens of thousands of dollars through fixed bets in the process. In just six months he had managed to accumulate profits of nearly a million dollars in this fashion. Guzman was incredibly ruthless, crushing the hand of a boxer who failed to lose a fixed fight as he had been ordered, ruining his future as a fighter, then having him killed anyway. Aside from his gambling action, Guzman's real desire is to secure a lucrative deal with a satellite sports network, thereby broadcasting his fights nationwide and generating a huge increase in his bookmaking activities. After a previous deal had fallen through, Crockett decided to offer Guzman such a network as a means of getting close to him and securing a bust. At the same time, Guzman became interested in Bobby Sykes, the young fighter who had previously beaten one of his star boxers and cost him a substantial bet. Seeing Sykes' skill, Guzman planned to make him the flagship fighter of his sports network, and went to his trainer, Moon, with a generous offer for his contract. Moon refused, but seeing the huge wealth on offer, later stole Guzman's all-important bookmaking diary in an attempt to extort more money from him. Guzman confidently mocked the fact that Moon hadn't realised the diary was written in an unbreakable code, and had him killed. Vice detective and close acquaintance of Moon, Larry Zito, picked up Sykes' training where Moon left off. Despite his reservations, Zito allowed the Vice team to use Sykes as a means of furthering their investigation, while at the same time becoming the young fighter's manager. Guzman continued his attempts to sign Sykes, sending his right-hand man George Sordoni to present Zito with ever increasing sums of money for his contract. Zito finally relented, agreeing to sell Guzman Sykes' contract on the condition that he be allowed a percentage of his bookmaking action in return. Guzman feigned acceptance, only to later send out his goons to remove Sykes' manager altogether. They killed Zito with an overdose of heroin. The Vice team swore to avenge Zito's death and clear his name (since IAD attributed his death was to an overdose). Guzman had also made enemies amongst the criminal fraternity, as Las Vegas mobster Alfredo Giulinni had learned of Guzman's rise to power in Miami's illegal gambling business, and area that he had long controlled. Giulinni ordered Guzman to be taken out, and his men confronted Guzman and his bodyguards in a shopping mall. The Vice team also learn about the impending hit, and rushed to the scene. During the resulting shootout, Guzman escaped to an upper floor, pursued by Zito's partner, Stan Switek, who avenged Zito's murder by shooting Guzman dead, his body crashing through a window and plunging to the mall floor. Category:Season 3 characters Category:Recurring characters Category:Deceased characters